Whitt, Mees reflect on school board service

Sunday

That's the advice outgoing Columbia Board of Education President Jan Mees has for two new board members to be elected April 2.

"You can figure you have some hotshot answers to fix things," Mees said. "It's a complex organization. Take your time and listen. Don't be afraid to ask questions."

Mees said she's still learning about Columbia Public Schools as she ends 12 years on the school board.

Board member Jim Whitt also is stepping away after 10 years on the board.

"My advice to them is to really allow the administration to manage the school district," Whitt said as his guidance to the new school board members. Most building issues have been resolved and the district is in good financial shape, he said.

"I'd really like to see growth in compensation for teachers where we can and more focus on diversity initiatives," Whitt said.

Mees has served as school board president twice and Whitt once during their terms. Mees also has served as president of the Missouri School Boards Association.

Groundbreaking and school opening ceremonies have been a routine occurrence during their tenures. Battle High School, Battle Elementary School, Beulah Ralph Elementary School, the Center for Early Learning—North and Cedar Ridge Elementary School all have opened since 2013. A new middle school is being built in south Columbia. And there also have been numerous building additions and renovations. With the completion of each building project, trailers previously used as classrooms have been eliminated.

"We built a number of new schools," Whitt said, outlining the board's accomplishments. "We've added air conditioning to places that have needed air conditioning. We've addressed growth. We've been successful with bond issues during my time on the board. I give a lot of credit to the administration for that, in communicating with the public."

"We have had to deal with a lot of growth and a lot of catch-up in terms of facilities," Mees said.

She said when Battle High School was built, the grade configuration at the schools also was changed to eliminate one transition students had to make. Previously there were elementary schools, middle schools, junior high schools and high schools.

"I think that was a move that required a lot of planning," Mees said.

Whitt was instrumental in launching the EdX Scholarship program, an initiative to recruit more minority teachers from among current students. Students in the program receive full-ride scholarships and are promised a teaching position with the district when they graduate.

Mees said another board accomplishment was its recognition of Columbia Missouri National Education Association as the exclusive representative of teachers, resulting from an election and the beginning of collective bargaining.

Additionally, he said, "we've really cut down on the number of students who receive out-of-school suspension or face disciplinary action."

Mees said trust in the school district was at a low point when she first ran for school board. She said that was changed through better communication between the school district and residents.

"We had an opportunity to build community trust," Mees said. "We had some tough times when I began on the board."

When asked what they had hoped to accomplish that has been left unfinished, both said closing the achievement gap between black and white students.

Mees said several initiatives are in place to tackle the issue.

"There's not anyone on the board who doesn't recognize that's still an issue," Mees said.

Whitt said he thinks early childhood education and teaching reading skills at an early age will make a difference.

"We're starting to make some progress there," Whitt said. He said the district's diversity initiatives also may make a difference.

Short for Multicultural Achievement Committee, MAC Scholars aims to ensure college and career readiness by requiring students who have traditionally been underrepresented to take the most rigorous courses. It is run by Whitt's wife, Annelle Whitt.

Tomas Monarrez, a researcher at the Urban Institute, presented his research last month in a public talk at the University of Missouri showing that when school boundaries are gerrymandered to achieve racial integration, the achievement gap closes, at the expense of greater transportation costs. Both Whitt and Mees said they didn't want to recommend that the future school board pursue that.

Mees said she would like to see more research.

"That's a question to be grappled with," Mees said. "It would take a lot of buy-in from the community. I don't know how proven that theory is."

Whitt said at some point, it becomes counterproductive to redraw the school attendance areas. He voted against the new attendance areas for middle schools and high schools.

"Anytime we change boundaries, we need to take a look that we're not creating pods of segregated schools," Whitt said.

Superintendent Peter Stiepleman said he has appreciated the service of both Mees and Whitt.

He said Mees was a mentor at the school where he was principal.

"Each and every week, I witnessed her compassion for a child struggling to make it in this world," Stiepleman said. "After each visit, she would take a moment to see how I was doing. That's how Jan Mees approaches everything — deliberately, with kindness and care."

Stiepleman called Whitt a "consummate coach." He said Whitt has used his corporate experience to advise him about organizational thinking and Whitt used his entrepreneurial background to coach him about innovation and how to share a vision.

"He coached me and taught me to think what it is like to be African-American today and why we must continue to eradicate racism," Stiepleman said.

rmckinney@columbiatribune.com

573-815-1719

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